When determining the plate total forces (Fx, Fy, Fxy, Mx, My, Mz, Mxy, Qx and Qy) what is the sign convention that is used? How does it relate to the plate local axis and the axis for the plane cut?
I did a test model when I set up a 10'x10' plate meshed into 1 foot square meshes. I applied a 100 kip lateral load at the top of the wall and looked at different scenarios for results along a line where I changed the local plate axis orientation as well as the x-axis for the results along a line (flipping the line). When I have a line cut the only force that changes sign when I 'flip' the line (which switches the direction of the x-axis) is the Mz force. Everything else doesn't change values. Even if I change the direction of the plane cut y-axis (pointing up or down) none of the values change their sign convention.
It seems like when the plate local z-axis is in one direction the plate total forces from the results along a line are the same sign no matter which direction the local plate x and y axis are pointed in (i.e. if the z-axis in pointing one direction you can rotate the x and y directions to which ever direction as long as the z-axis doesn't change). The only exception is the Mz force which changes when I flip the direction of the x-axis for the plane cut.
I've attached my test model as well as a pdf when with screen shots of the total forces using results along a line showing the plate local axis as well as the plane cut axis. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
communities.bentley.com/.../plate-analysis-test.STDcommunities.bentley.com/.../summary-of-test-run.pdf